‘Let-em-Out’ Little next Minister on block

29th June 2018

Justice Minister Andrew Little should be next Minister to lose his portfolios if the standards applied to Clare Curran were applied evenly, according to Garth McVicar, Founder of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.

Garth says the Justice Minister has made far more serious political bungles that have embarrassed the Government among the voting public.

“Andrew Little’s attempts to go soft on criminals is doing the real damage to Labour’s reputation.”
Garth has collated a list of “Three Strikes” that are evidence of a Minister failing at his job.

Strike 1: Andrew Little bungled his attempt to repeal the Three Strikes law.
He went public with his ideological desire to repeal this law before ensuring he had the support of New Zealand First and the wider public (which wasn’t going to happen).

Strike 2: Andrew Little foolishly endorsed Chester Borrows’ naïve attempt to persuade the media to remove emotional reporting about victims from crime stories. See story by Audrey Young.

Strike 3: Little’s recent Criminal Justice Summit reached the headlines when victims became aggrieved at the rhetoric in support of softer treatment on criminals, and spoke out.

Garth doubted many New Zealanders would argue that serious social issues are contributing to the crime and prison population.

“To help people, especially those who become criminals, we must concentrate on the root causes. People did want to talk about those matters at the Summit, but the politicians did not.

“That’s because Andrew Little has been tasked with reducing the prison population quickly. This can only be achieved in the short term by softening bail legislation and making parole easier to get.

“Andrew Little is now a recidivist offender at taking a vacuous approach to deeply rooted issues – the Prime Minister should not allow him to roam free.” Garth says.

ENDS